Saturday, September 15, 2012

I think in my last post I made the idea plein air painting sound very bad. Actually it is not. My last post was about one off experience that happened. Otherwise painting outdoors is just as good as it can get.

This painting was done in an afternoon outside a children's park near my house. The park is closed in the afternoon, but opens in the evening. So there were really not many people around. I found a place with a lot of trees to protect me and these garbage trucks parked in front of me in the afternoon light were really looking good. But the best part of that afternoon was this little guy selling freshly toasted peanuts.

He was waiting for the park to open and really was not doing any business that time. And when he saw me drawing he came in front of me and just stood in the best pose he could. I asked him to move a little to the side as he was blocking my view. He moved, but as little as he could. All he really wanted to be is to be drawn. And he just kept standing in that amazing pose. As soon as I understood that I was drawing his gesture.

Generally doing gesture studies outside is very difficult as people are constantly moving. But this guy was happily posing for me. What more could I ask for. So I did some studies on him and I showed him that. He was really very happy to see that and that made me even happier. And then when it came to the the painting he was was my foreground which really lifted the painting in my opinion. Just look at the way he is toasting the peanuts with a bend of his body and one knee resting on his cart.

Plein air painting is always full of surprises. It is almost like watercolor in nature. You just have to go with the flow. And add to that every experience creates great memories.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Hi there. How have you all been doing. In my last post I had mentioned about my last plein air painting experience which was anything but pleasant. A summary of what had happened now follows. :)

Bull temple is the temple of Nandi (Also known as Basava), the bull who is associated with Shiva. It is located atop a tiny hillock in Basavanagudi. Its a lovely place to paint, but it is also a tourist place. This was my first time there and I was all excited about it. As usual after sketching for sometime I had found my composition, which I drew on paper and then I was ready to paint. No sooner than I had setup my easel a crowd had already gathered around me. Well I really dont mind that. I had painted with crowd around me earlier also. But this time the crowd was full of questions and comments and they would just not let me concentrate on my painting. Sample this.

Are you painting the temple? (As if I was painting a Venetian scene !!!!)

Why dont you draw portraits?

Is this some project work? (Answering no made people very surprised. So after sometime I had started answering yes)

I also used to do this stuff when I was a kid. (Painting is kiddish stuff of course)

Oh this is watercolor.. My niece paints in oils (It was very disappointing for some of them when they found out that it was watercolor).

Can I see the brushes? (Few of my brushes were already in the hands of the kid who asked this question)

Can you please step to the left a little. I want to take a picture.

While all this and more was happening I was also trying to paint. Without any focus on my painting I did not know what I was doing and all this constant commentary and quizzing going on in the background it was getting to me. Finally it was enough and I packed up and came back.

This painting was done in the last two days. And it tells a story which is exactly opposite to what happened. This is only a fantasy. :)

Monday, September 3, 2012

Hi there. How have you all been doing? I managed to get some inspiration and do a painting last week. I was going through my sketchbook and I found this pencil sketch that I had done of a construction site looking from the terrace from my house. I thought of painting the scene with a backdrop of sky-scrapers that would just tell a story of how the concrete jungle is rapidly spreading in cities. Hope it makes sense to you.

Meanwhile I also went for an outdoor session yesterday and it was one of the most harrowing experiences. More on that some other day perhaps....

About Me

I am a watercolor painter from Bhubaneswar, India. I am mostly a landscape painter and prefer to paint outdoors or as they say en plain air. Through this blog I try to share my art and interact with people. So your comments are always welcome. You can contact me at
prabal.mallick@gmail.com. If you want to buy my painting please contact me on my email. And if you have time please visit my Watercolor Painting Website.
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